Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Increasing Zionist aggression and pressure in French intellectual life

From Médiapart

my note: for Stéphane Hessel follow this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Hessel

Here are a few extracts...

Resistant during the Second World War, Hessel joined General de Gaulle in 1941, and was later deported to the Buchenwald and Dora concentration camps. Hessel escaped hanging in Dora and escaped with [ ] during a transfer to Bergen-Belsen by exchanging his identity with Michel Boitel, who was dying of typhus.

Stephane Hessel was involved in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948; participated in the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Program of the National Council of Resistance of 15 March 1944, which particularly urged the younger generations to live by and pass on the legacy of the resistance and its ever-current ideals of economic, social and cultural democracy.On 21 February 2008 on the Place de la Republique in Paris, Stéphane Hessel denounced the French government's failure to comply with Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called for the Government of the French Republic to make funds available to provide housing for the homeless etc.....

On 5 January 2009, Stéphane Hessel made the following remarks on the Israeli military operations in the Gaza strip: "In fact, the word that applies - that should be applied - is 'war crime' and even 'crime against humanity'. But this word must be used cautiously, especially in Geneva, where the High Commissioner for Human Rights resides, and who may have an important opinion on that issue. As for myself, after visiting Gaza, after seeing refugee camps with thousands of children, the way they are bombed appears as a real crime against humanity."

In October 2010 his essay "Indignez-vous!" was published with a first printing of 6000 copies. By year's end 600,0000 copies had been sold. An English translation is here. Hessel's book argues that the French people need to get outraged again, as were those who participated in the French Resistance during World War II. Hessel's reasons for personal outrage include the growing gap between the very rich and the very poor, France's treatment of its illegal immigrants, the need to re-establish a free press, the need to protect the environment, the plight of Palestinians and the importance of protecting the French welfare system. He calls for peaceful and non-violent insurrection.